Acetoacetarylide-based pigments are used in printing inks, paints, colored plastics, colored office articles, cosmetics, and colored paper because of their superior combination of rheology, stability, and color strength. Because of their widespread use, a simple, efficient synthesis of acetoacetarylide-based pigments would be of great commercial importance.
Previous methods for forming acetoacetarylide-based pigments have been hampered by the fact that production of purified acetoacetarylides results in an acetoacetarylide solid that is bulky and difficult to handle. The transport of solid acetoacetarylide in bags, drums, or other containers, as performed in previous methods for forming acetoacetarylide-based pigments, is difficult, time consuming, and expensive. Further, the solid acetoacetarylide containers generate waste and the arylide itself generates dust which is an industrial hygiene concern.